Katy Dickinson

PreSEED Mentor Matching Update

The mentor matching cycle for the PreSEED pilot program participants started a week ago, on 19 February. 13 are matched so far, with 6 additional potential Mentors having responded that they are considering it. 13 or 45% matched during the first week is about the same rate of progress that I usually see in a regular SEED worldwide Engineering term, so PreSEED is doing well.

So far, we have mentors matched from Bangalore (India), Broomfield (CO USA), Brush Prairie (WA USA), Burlington (MA USA), Ft. Lauderdale (FL USA), Itasca (IL USA), and Menlo Park (CA USA).

PreSEED has a number of differences from a regular SEED worldwide Engineering term. Two PreSEED special requirements are: Mentors must talk with the Mentee's Manager before starting to work with the Mentee; a two hour mentoring partnership facilitation session is required (for PreSEED Mentor and Mentee). I have been sending reminders to the Mentors to meet with the Managers. It looks like those talks are happening.

PreSEED is a pilot of the SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring program. More information on SEED is available at http://research.sun.com/SEED/

Posted at 06:10PM Feb 26, 2008 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Crossing USA Border, Flying Home from Mexico (GLL, MMML, KCXL, KPAO)

Charlie, Marji, John were in Baja California 15-17 February. Our pilot was Charlie Jackson, Sun Labs' Webmaster. Our Cessna 182 Skylane II was one of four private planes on the trip from the Shoreline Flying Club. See the following blog entries for more:

• Flying to See Whales in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja
• Flying from Palo Alto to Mexicali (KPAO to MMML)
• Flying from Mexicali to Mulege, Mexico (MMML to GLL)
• Mulege, Mexico
• Flying from Mulege to Laguna San Ignacio and Back (Baja, Mexico)
• Fuel Run to Loreto, Mexico
• Loreto, Baja Mexico

Flying home again took a full day - leaving Mulege shortly after sunrise and arriving in Palo Alto at sunset. We got fuel and checked out with Mexican customs in Mexicali, then flew 9 miles north across the US border to check in at Calexico. The Calexico airport is directly on the US-Mexico border fence. We were treated with a great deal more dignity and respect by US Customs arriving in a General Aviation plane than I have ever been treated by the TSA on a commercial flight.

Our flying buddy was Radu but even though his plane took off first, it was much smaller than ours, so we lost track of him after Mexicali. All four planes got home safe. We were first back, two more arrived that night, and Radu got home the next day.

Photos were taken with a Nikon CoolPix S510 camera with an 8G SDHC photo card. We ran the photos through a filter to reduce some of the haze resulting from taking photos through a window. The filter produced some oddly intense colors.

Radu and Kitty Before Takeoff

Loading our plane

Radu Takes Off

Charlie Jackson, Pilot

John Plocher, Copilot

Sea of Cortez Islands

River

Baja Coast

Landing at Mexicali

Fuel Stop at Mexicali, Mexico

Flying Along USA-Mexico Border

USA-Mexico Border

Flying Over USA-Mexico Border

USA-Mexico Border Fence

Calexico Airport, USA

Plane Food, Calexico

Home Sweet Home

Calexico Cropdusters

US-Mexico Border Fence

No Man's Land Between Fences

Red Pavement Ants

Southern California Mountains

Snowy Mountain

Windmill Farm, Southern California

Racing the Sunset

Charlie Home Safe, Palo Alto

Parking the Plane at KPAO

Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

Posted at 01:28PM Feb 26, 2008 by katysblog in News & Reviews  |  Comments[1]

Loreto, Baja Mexico

Charlie, Marji, John and I flew to Baja California to see the grey whales 15-17 February. Our pilot was Charlie Jackson, Sun Labs' Webmaster. Our Cessna 182 Skylane II was one of four private planes on the trip from the Shoreline Flying Club.

On 16 February, we went on a fuel run from Mulege south to Loreto. We tied down the plane and took a cab into town for lunch and to see what there was of interest. We found out that Loreto is where Father Junipero Serra began to establish the California missions in the 18th century. Over the Church of San Francisco Javier door it says: 25 Oct 1697, Cabeza y Madre de las Misiones de Baja y Alta California (that is: Head and Mother of the Missions of Baja and Alta California). John and I had seen St. Francis Xavier in Old Goa, India, last year (see my March 14, 2007 blog entry). It was interesting to see another church dedicated to this much-travelled missionary. Loreto is also an up-and-coming tourist resort with interesting shops. Cab rides cost about double what we had been paying in Mulege.

Cessna 182 Tie Down

Domingo's Place Steakhouse

Baja Map on Menu

Saguaro Cactus Lightshades

McLulu's Fish Tacos

Majolica Ceramics For Sale

Loreto Garden

John, Marji, Charlie

Over Church Door

Inside San Francisco Javier

Airport Stop Light

Marji Copilot

John in Back

Loreto Cemetary, Sewage Plant

Landing shadows 1

Landing shadows 2

Landing shadows 3

Landing shadows 4

Landing shadows 5

Back in Mulege

Dog on Mulege Runway

Bicycle on Mulege Runway

Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

Posted at 09:53AM Feb 26, 2008 by katysblog in News & Reviews  |